Kadri Toom (1984) is engaged in experimental graphics. Her interests often revolve around themes connected to the living environment. Her recent works stem from landscape experiences on screens, in urban spaces, and in peripheral fields. In her works, collage-like still lifes resonate, reflecting the contemporary human mindset and spatial awareness. She employs alternative and experimental graphic and photographic techniques in her pieces, combining them with areas of colour. Her work is characterised by a tendency to depart from traditional forms in graphics. Kadri Toom graduated from the painting department of the Tartu Higher Art School in 2006 and obtained a master’s degree from the graphic arts department of the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2009. She is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association and the Association of Estonian Printmakers, and she teaches students in graphic arts courses at the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. www.instagram.com/kadritoom

www.instagram.com/kadritoom

I am interested in bodies of water, landscapes, and forgotten places. I explore the stories and layers hidden within them through various graphic techniques in my artwork. In the creation of my pieces, I prioritize the process, its progression, and experimentation.

Joanna Concejo was born in 1971 in Poland, in Słupsk, and studied graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań. In 1998, after receiving a diploma in drawing and illustration, she settled permanently in France. Her talent as an artist was first noticed through art installations in 2002 when she was invited to participate in the Busan Biennale in Korea. Over the following years, several exhibitions of her works took place, including in Berlin and Paris. In 2004, she sent her drawings to the International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna and qualified for the illustrators’ exhibition – marking the beginning of her work in the field of illustration. Joanna Concejo’s books are published in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Poland. Under the auspices of the Format publishing house, a leporello-format book titled “The Prince in the Candy Shop,” with text by Marek Bieńczyk and Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, was published in Poland and France. It has been translated into more than twenty languages and honoured with the Bologna Ragazzi Award, the White Raven from the International Youth Library in Monaco, and the Grand Prix at the Tallinn Illustration Triennial in 2023.

Joanna Concejo in Estonia:

A selection of Joanna’s illustrations and books was first seen in Estonia as part of the exhibition “Look! Polish Picture Book!” organized by the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre in Gdańsk in 2016 at the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre. Several of her works were also exhibited at the Tallinn Illustration Triennial “The Power of Picture” in 2020 at the National Library of Estonia, where she was awarded Estonian-patterned gloves, which she happily wears in winter. On August 2, 2023, Joanna Concejo’s solo exhibition opened at the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre, which the author herself presented on September 8. The same exhibition has been displayed, with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, at the Central Library of Saare County, the children’s department of the Lääne County Library, and the Central Library of Tapa, and it has now reached the Tartu Public Library, the University of Tartu Library, and the Tartu Toy Museum, where Concejo’s illustrations are exhibited as part of the Prima Vista art program. From May 17 to June 16, a more extensive exhibition will be on display at the Estonian National Museum in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The artist herself will be in Tartu on May 16 and 17, leading tours of her exhibitions, conducting workshops, signing copies of the Estonian edition of Tokarczuk and Concejo’s book “The Lost Soul,” and participating in the opening of the exhibition on May 17 at noon at the Estonian National Museum.

Kalli Kalde (1967) has studied at the Tartu Art School and Tallinn University and currently works as a teacher of painting, drawing, and graphics at the Tartu Art School. She is a member of the Association of Estonian Printmakers and the Tartu Artists’ Union. Kalde has been exhibiting paintings and graphics since 1988, and her works have been selected for international exhibitions in many foreign countries. She has received the following awards: the jury medal in 2020 in Lodz, Poland (17th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms), Graphic Artist of the Year 2019 (award by the Association of Estonian Printmakers), 1st prize in 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the 14th Lessedra International Print Exhibition, and 2nd prize in 2015 in Tidaholm, Sweden, at the 7th International Lithography Symposium.

Marten Prei (born in 2000 in Kuressaare) is a second-year undergraduate student in graphic arts and printmaking at the Estonian Academy of Arts. His work explores human development, the aura of the world, and the beauty and positivity within it all. Often, this occurs through colourful, surreal, and ironic illustrations, depicting objects, environments, or individuals as characters who convey a specific spirit and aura in their situation. Prei primarily employs screen printing or intaglio for printing, and besides graphic art, he uses acrylic paint and markers. Previously, he has participated in exhibitions such as “RED WAVE, 2023” at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, which addressed the materials about an attempt to create a video game in Soviet-era Estonia. He has also participated in Ready-Made-themed exhibitions in Keila, Hiiumaa, and Saaremaa in 2023. Marten is currently a master at the EAA Graphic Arts Print Workshop, focusing on hand press and intaglio. He is a member of the art group “Kvadraat,” focusing on graphic art, which is currently working on a major project to create an exhibition in a Soviet-era canning factory building in Kuressaare next summer.

Sandra Puusepp (1997) is a student at the Estonian Academy of Arts, studying in the graphic arts department (since 2022). Previously, she graduated from the University of Tartu with a Bachelor’s degree in Informatics (2019), but over the past couple of years, she has focused on contemporary art. In Puusepp’s work, one can mainly find graphics and installations. Her pieces explore the connection between the environment, memory, and identity. Puusepp has participated in group exhibitions at the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, and collaboratively presented performances in Narva at the Kreenholm territory and in Tallinn at the New Arts House. One of her works is part of the Estonian Academy of Arts Museum collection since 2023.

Viktor Gurov (1989) lives and works in Tallinn. His art is strongly influenced by his work as a graphic designer. His research focuses on everyday practices (walking, collecting, spatial descriptions) and relationships within public spaces. Gurov’s works are often associated with text and typography. He graduated from the Graphic Design Department (2014) and the Photography Department (2018) of the Estonian Academy of Arts. Recent exhibitions include “Keeping Things in the Dark (Again)” with Anna Škodenko, Darja Popolitova, and Francisco Martínez at the EAA Gallery (2023), the Sillamäe Museum (2023), and the Riga Art Space (2022); “Slow Steps – Walker in the Landscape” at the National Library of Estonia (2022).

Aet Ollisaar (1966) is a textile artist who lives and works in Tartu. Her work is characterised by its poetic nature and storytelling. Having traversed various borderlands in the creation of tapestries, her primary mediums are colour and vignettes crafted with simple shapes. Aet Ollisaar is a member of the Nordic Textile Artists Association, the Estonian Artists Association, and the Estonian Textile Artists Association, and has been selected as Textile Artist of the Year in 2007 and 2023. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Estonia and abroad and has organised several solo exhibitions.

Brigitte Mihkelson (2000) weaves timeless beauty into her works, utilising various mediums from painting to textile and fashion art. The connecting theme of her works is a romanticised modern baroque. The artist employs thoughtful and environmentally friendly material solutions, drawing inspiration from mythology, life, and emotions.

Eve Kask (1958) graduated from the graphic design department of ERKI with a diploma in book design (1984). International success came in the late 1980s with colourful linocuts featuring mythological and feminist allusions (solo exhibitions in 1989 in Helsinki, and 1990 in Hamburg). However, Kask’s art has been in constant evolution over four decades. From the mid-90s, Kask experimented with organic materials (29 ½ at City Gallery in 1998) and became fascinated with artist books. In this century, she has moved towards anthropological documentary (“How to Speak of a Secret Palce Without Betraying It” at Shipyard in 2020) and the borderlands of socio-political art (“2+2=…” at Tartmus in 2018). Long-term art projects culminated in the publication of books such as “People and Houses of Käsmu” I and II (2003, 2019/20), “A Nearly Complete Guide to Estonian Bus Stops” (with Signe Kivi in 2008), “101” (the eyes of members of parliament in 2010), and “EE Estonia Success Story” (2018). Several art projects have been born from collaboration or employing interview methods, as in the ongoing series of twenty-three works from 2023 titled “Solitude and Solidarity”. Over the past couple of decades, Kask’s focus has been on individuals society, or community. She has had a total of 37 solo exhibitions both at home and abroad, in addition to participating in over a hundred group exhibitions and curating about 10 exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad.

India Kiisler (2002) is an interdisciplinary artist who combines textile and fashion art with video, photography, and performance art. Kiisler’s works tell absurd, surreal, and utterly mundane stories. Her works reflect identity, the body, gender, and sexuality in a capitalist society.

Kristiin Kuuslap‘s (2002) body of work encompasses textile art, graphics, and watercolour, though fashion-related projects feature most prominently. In her pieces, she often addresses the themes of death, loneliness, and nature. She has been greatly influenced by the punk and gothic movements. Additionally, she has drawn inspiration from various authors discussing the absurd, which has also brought questions of identity into her sphere of interest.

Annamaria Bereczki (born in 2002) graduated from Viimsi Art School in 2018. From 2020 to 2021, Bereczki illustrated articles for Äripäev newspaper and engaged in painting and ceramics. Since 2022, she has been studying graphic design at the Estonian Academy of Arts, participating in several student exhibitions. Currently, she is experimenting with various graphic techniques and intertwining them. In her art practice, Bereczki draws inspiration from nature, life, and people, at present especially from old photo albums, through which she connects with her family’s stories and memories.

Sofia Lanman (2001) was born 23 years ago in Narva, Estonia. Her artistic journey began in an exceptionally challenging environment, as the streets of Narva were filled with many difficulties at that time, including gopniks and drug addicts. Her childhood, spent in this environment, was full of tension and incomprehension, and these experiences strongly shaped her creative process. Sofia’s art reflects her experiences in youth and the darker aspects of society. She is dedicated to exploring post-Soviet aesthetics, depicting the atmosphere of decay and rebirth that characterised her hometown and that era.